NYC museum exhibit shows virtues of living small NEW YORK (AP) — Many New Yorkers live in small apartments, yet most of them don’t camp out in a micro-unit at a museum in order to demonstrate the virtues of living in tight spaces. Challie Stillman and Lina Franco arrived at the Museum of the City of New York at 6 p.m. Friday for a 24-hour stay in a studio apartment that’s part of an exhibit called “Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers.” The exhibit, which runs through Sept. 2, als...

Bulger jury duty mix of tension, boredom, fear BOSTON (AP) — They started out as 18 strangers seated in a jury box, stunned they’d been chosen to decide a case the government waited nearly two decades to try while the suspect was on the lam. Two months later, some were shaking as they stood in the jury box and heard their verdict read convicting Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger in 11 slayings. Three jurors in interviews with The Associated Press said the weeks from start to finish wer...

Back to school poll: Parents back high-stakes testing WASHINGTON (AP) — Often criticized as too prescriptive and all-consuming, standardized tests have support among parents, who view them as a useful way to measure both students’ and schools’ performances, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. Most parents also say their own children are given about the right number of standardized tests, according to the AP-NORC poll. They’d like to see student performan...

’Duck Dynasty’ star greets camo couple in W. Pa. MARS, Pa. (AP) — A camouflage-clad bride and groom got a little advice from a bewhiskered witness on their wedding day: “Duck Dynasty” star Willie Robertson. WTAE-TV reports Robertson told the couple to always love and forgive one another as they were wed Saturday morning at a Field & Stream store near Pittsburgh. Robertson popped in for the nuptials of Mehgan Cook, who sported a camouflage sash on her dress, and Charlie Miller, who was comple...

Students in tornado-shattered town return to class MOORE, Okla. (AP) — After an anguish-filled summer, students returned to classes Friday at two elementary schools destroyed last spring by a deadly tornado that ripped a 17-mile path of devastation through the suburbs of Oklahoma City. The children of Moore were eager to reunite with classmates, but many were still haunted by fears of the weather and memories of young friends lost to the monstrous EF5 twister that killed 24 people. Zack Lewis,...

Reactions to developments in Egypt Reactions on Friday around the world to developments in Egypt following clashes in which hundreds of people were killed and thousands injured: EUROPEAN UNION European leaders spoke Friday about the need for a coordinated EU response to the violence in Egypt and agreed there should be a meeting of the European Union’s foreign ministers next week. French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for an end to violenc...

Iraq seeks help from US amid growing violence WASHINGTON (AP) — A resurgence of violence and a renewed threat from al-Qaida have recently revived flagging U.S. interest in Iraq, officials said Friday as Baghdad asked for new help to fight extremists less than two years after it forced American troops to withdraw. Faced with security crises across the Mideast, North Africa and Asia, the White House largely has turned its attention away from Iraq since U.S. forces left in 2011. But the coun...

Judge: Manning’s actions were ’heedless’ FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — The enormous leak of classified information engineered by Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was “heedless” and “imminently dangerous to others,” a military judge said Friday in a document explaining why she found him guilty of 20 counts, including six violations of the federal Espionage Act. Army Col. Denise Lind released her legal rationale, or “special findings,” as the sentencing phase of Manning’s court-martial neared its en...

Abortion coverage for Congress under health law? WASHINGTON (AP) — The politics of the abortion debate are always tricky for lawmakers. They may soon get personal. An attempt to fix a problem with the national health care law has created a situation in which members of Congress and their staffers could gain access to abortion coverage. That’s a benefit currently denied to them and to all federal employees who get health insurance through the government’s plan. Abortion opponents say the Obam...

California teen welcomed home after kidnapping LAKESIDE, Calif. (AP) — A 16-year-old girl got a warm welcome home reception five days after FBI agents killed a longtime family friend suspected of torturing and killing her mother and brother and escaping with her to the Idaho wilderness. Hannah Anderson was mobbed by reporters as she entered and left a restaurant that hosted an all-day fundraiser. News crews were told to wait outside while Hannah and her father stayed for hours. She did not...

Tepid US retail sales raising doubts about economy WASHINGTON (AP) — Bleaker outlooks at retailers like Wal-Mart and Macy’s are raising doubts that consumers will spend enough in coming months to lift the still-subpar U.S. economy. Though the economy is growing steadily, Americans are being hampered by weak pay, higher taxes and tepid hiring. Sluggish overseas economies are also slowing sales for U.S. retailers. It’s a picture the Federal Reserve will weigh in deciding whether to scale back it...

Power companies dangle free nights and weekends NEW YORK (AP) — Electric bills have long been take-it-or-leave-it affairs: Pay one rate for all the power you used the month before, no matter when you used it. But some electric companies want to shake-up that rigid business model. They are increasingly offering plans that sound like come-ons from mobile phone companies: Free nights, free weekends and pre-paid plans. “We are seeing a transformation in the way people buy and use electricity in...

Dow slips to worst week of 2013 NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell Friday, closing out what was the worst week of the year for the Dow Jones industrial average. The market was dragged lower by a weak performance from retailers and companies sensitive to higher interest rates. Homebuilders and banking stocks were among the best performers. Stocks had a decent start to the week, but investors were hit hard the last three days. The Dow retreated 2.2 percent for the week, its worst in ...

Fewest Americans since 2007 seek jobless benefits WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped 15,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 320,000, the fewest since October 2007 — a sign of dwindling layoffs and steady if modest job growth. The Labor Department said Thursday that the less volatile four-week average fell 4,000 to 332,000, the fewest since November 2007 and the fifth straight decline. Companies are laying off fewer workers, a trend that has lowe...

CIA acknowledges Area 51 — but not UFOs or aliens LAS VEGAS (AP) — UFO buffs and believers in alien encounters are celebrating the CIA’s clearest acknowledgement yet of the existence of Area 51, the top-secret Cold War test site that has been the subject of elaborate conspiracy theories for decades. The recently declassified documents have set the tinfoil-hat crowd abuzz, though there’s no mention in the papers of UFO crashes, black-eyed extraterrestrials or staged moon landings. Audrey Hewin...

NTSB: No engine failure in fatal UPS plane crash BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Federal investigators found no initial evidence that a UPS cargo jet suffered engine failure or was burning before it clipped trees at the end of a runway and slammed into a hillside, killing the two crew members onboard, officials said Thursday. UPS on Thursday night identified the victims as Capt. Cerea Beal, Jr., 58, of Matthews, N.C. and First Officer Shanda Fanning, 37, of Lynchburg, Tenn. In an email, the company ...

New NSA revelations stir congressional concern WASHINGTON (AP) — New revelations from leaker Edward Snowden that the National Security Agency has overstepped its authority thousands of times since 2008 are stirring renewed calls on Capitol Hill for serious changes to NSA spy programs, undermining White House hopes that President Barack Obama had quieted the controversy with his assurances of oversight. An internal audit provided by Snowden to The Washington Post shows the agency has repeat...

New school year awaits kids who survived twister MOORE, Okla. (AP) — One young girl is so afraid of the wind that she carries headphones to block out the sound. Other kids are traumatized by the memory of their narrow escape from the storm and the friends who died just a few feet away from them. Nearly three months after a twister blasted through Moore and destroyed two elementary schools, students are preparing to go back to class. Although many families are ready to return to a familiar ro...

’Bucket List Bandit’ gets 11 years sentence in Pa. PITTSBURGH (AP) — A bank robber nicknamed the “Bucket List Bandit” after allegedly telling a Utah teller he had just four months to live was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in federal prison for a string of heists spanning 10 states. Michael Eugene Brewster’s public defender told the federal judge who handed down the sentence that a medical evaluation found his client didn’t have cancer or any other terminal illness. Brewster’s case made headli...

Warrants: Mother, boy tortured before friend fled SAN DIEGO (AP) — A family friend tortured and killed a mother and 8-year old son before setting his home on fire and escaping with the mother’s 16-year-old daughter, according to search warrants unsealed Wednesday. The warrants do not describe the torture but say firefighters found the mother’s body in James Lee DiMaggio’s garage near a crowbar and what appeared to be blood next to her head. A dead dog was found under a sleeping bag in the gar...